Not much needs to be written about Sonic Youth, they are one of the most well known and longest running indie rock bands in the world. So much so that they were even featured on an episode of the pop culture juggernaut The Simpsons. For this reason I will write specifically to the sonic ignorant.
Daydream Nation marks a shift in the SY time line, just freshly leaving the legendary punk label SST (Black Flag, Descendents, Minutemen, Husker Du, etc) and making the jump to the majorly distributed Enigma records. With this move came a change from the noisy punk charm of their older records to the writing and crafting of much more accessible (although still quite noisy at times. see: Juno) pop tunes. Although charmed these songs do not lose their abrasive edge; often swirling and erupting in a cacophony of sound sure to surprise and perhaps frighten the casual music listener. Prepare to be taken closer and closer to the edge as each song passes eventually accumulating to a three part chaos driven symphony known collectively as "Trilogy". At this point all hell has officially broken loose and the listener is left to pick up the pieces.
I was but a boy when I first discovered this record oddly enough, sifting through my dads collection. With no preconceived notions of genre (and no idea what even punk meant) the anthemic charm of the opening track "Teenage Riot" was enough to have me hooked straight through to the Kim Gordon led closer "Eliminator Jr." (named as such for sounding too much like a mix of Dinosaur Jr. and the ZZ Top album "Eliminator").
Acclaim from both indie devotees and critics alike continues more than twenty years after its release (see last years rarely given 10/10 Pitchfork Media review of the Deluxe Edition), and nothing quite the same has rested upon a record store shelve since. As one of my favorite records, I surely believe this to be one LP everyone should listen to at least once in their life.
- Daniel Marc Cafferty
(has owned at least 5 copies of this record)
Album highlights:
- Teenage Riot (lyrics/vocals: Thurston Moore)
- 'Cross the Breeze (lyrics/vocals: Kim Gordon)
- Hey, Joni (lyrics/vocals: Lee Ranaldo)
Daydream Nation - if you enjoy the album please support the band and your favorite independent record store by purchasing a copy
Check out the music video for "Teenage Riot"
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